Transfer deadline day has passed and Tottenham successfully… loaned out Georges-Kevin N’Koudou to AS Monaco. That’s not quite fair. They also sent Anthony Georgiou on loan to Levante B.

Now, of course, many teams choose not to do much in the winter transfer window. Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United all did nothing of note either, and no one is joking about their decisions to stand pat. But there are two key differences. First, Spurs did not act in the summer window, either, and came into the season with a notably thin squad. Second, a rash of injuries has left manager Mauricio Pochettino to improvise multiple changes to his preferred style of play in order to manage those absences.

In the last week, Spurs were solidly beaten by Chelsea and Crystal Palace en route to crashing out of both domestic cups, and they only squeaked by Fulham and Watford on late winners by Fernando Llorente and Harry Winks. This is a squad that needed strengthening...